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BTO Blueline
TAWNY OWL
Strix aluco
 Tawny Owl © Tommy Holden
 

• Population
  changes

• Productivity
  trends

• Additional
  information
Conservation listings
Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: green
Long-term trend

UK: probably stable
England: probable shallow decline
UK population size
19,400 pairs in 2000 (1988–91 Atlas estimate updated using CBC/BBS trend: BiE04, APEP06)
Status summary
As a nocturnal species, Tawny Owl is covered relatively poorly by the BTO's monitoring schemes. The pattern shown by CBC/BBS is a relatively stable one, however, in keeping with the longevity, sedentary behaviour, and slow breeding rate of this species. There has been a shallow downward trend in the index since the early 1970s. It may be relevant to this possible long-term decline that Gibbons et al. (1993) found evidence for a contraction of the species' UK range between the two atlas periods. The substantial improvements in nest success during the c.29-day egg stage could be linked to the declining impact of organochlorine pesticides, which were banned in the early 1960s. The numbers of fledglings per breeding attempt have increased steeply. Special post-breeding surveys of this species were conducted in autumn 2005 (click here), following methodology established by an earlier survey in 1989 (Percival 1990).
 
CBC/BBS Graph

1967-2008: 3% (confidence interval -34% to 60%)

 
Population changes in detail
 

 Demographic trends
Fledglings per breeding attempt graph
Laying date graph
 
 
More on demographic trends
 
Additional information
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This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Renwick, A.R., Joys, A.C., Noble, D.G., Barimore, C., Conway, G.J., Downie, I.S., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2010). Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2010. BTO Research Report No. 565. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends)

Pages maintained by Iain Downie, Mandy T Andrews and Laura Smith: Last updated 06.10.2010